Leda & the Swan: The Seduction of Power
22" x 14"
ink on NYT
(on stock table page)
"As I write these lines at my home in Dar es Salaam, I feel overwhelmed. We love to point fingers when we try to deal with difficult problems such as the environment, to lay the blame on industry or science or politicians. And there is no question that industrialization has polluted our surroundings. But who buys the products? We do, you & I, the vast, amorphous general public. Each of our actions has a global impact." |
With these sentiments in mind, I was compelled to create a series of drawings that probe into the ways our actions impact one another. Since everything is interrelated which is especially evident in the news, I thought it would be appropriate & fun to do my drawings right on the pages of the sacred New York Times! What better bastion of news than the Times to act as a vehicle for these drawings?
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Leda & the Swan: The Seduction of Power | Zeus, King of the Gods, uses his magical powers to transform himself into other forms (here, a swan) to seduce (in this case) Leda, much as traders & investors transform themselves into millionaires through the magic of the stock market and seduce countless people. I imagine Leda embracing the swan upon the back of her husband, King Tyndareus of Sparta, who despairs at her infidelity. Beneath him is his own hidden mistress or perhaps his anima. A chorus of figures emerge from the shadows -- they are trying to reach the mighty Zeus, or perhaps they are spurned lovers, victims of greed & misused power. |
The central figure is calm and balanced in a difficult yoga posture. Yoga is a physical discipline that does not involve competition. She is surrounded by figures, some asleep. They dream of being the best, being on top, heads above all others. What is the price of the dream? In the upper right, a woman loses her head in the process. Another figure walks bent over, a heavy stone tied to his back, the burden of his choices. When we act out of impulse, passion, and fear, driven to be the best at the expense of others, we fall. When we live with the dream in our hearts, our compassion intact, then we can make real progress. |
Heads Above All Others: A Question of Progress |
 Insider Secrets: The Limits of Power | Some people feel like victims of society: they struggle to reach self realization, but must hide their true selves, until they have forgotten who they are. Like the family members in Isabel Allende’s, “The House of the Spirits,” the weight of destiny lies heavily over them. The financial market is another easy place to find people deceiving themselves & others about their motivations. In wake of 9/11, it is more important than ever to look within & find the quiet, urgent voice of our inner truths. |
Reading the New York Times, watching the news on TV, I wonder what I can do to make a difference in the world, since as far as I can tell, there is no action we can take that does not impact on the lives of others. How can I cope with the frustration of living in comfort as I observe the overwhelming suffering around the world? As I attempt to understand other peoples’ trials, I am saddened to realize how far we are from our ideal of a better world for all. We often seem blind to the rest of the world, ignoring the bigger picture, our empathy closed off, the distance too foreboding, hopelessly sheltered from others' sorrows. In this post 9/11 climate it can be too tempting to fear “the other” & forget that we are all one family.
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Looking in from Outside: A Westerner's Frustration |
 Threshold of Dreams: The Confusion of Power | A man crosses a threshold towards his waiting partner, past the sleeping guardian of truth, into a realm of dreams and hallucinations, visions and delusions. It is unclear who has the power - each feels betrayed by the other. Shadowy figures represent the unconscious, the anima, the unborn. The clustered masses of people on the left side seem to be stepping on each other to get to the top - or are they participating in some sort of frenzied ritual dance? Things are not always what they seem. I have been influenced by novels such as the Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell and 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, where layers of relationship and meaning are presented and then stripped away to reveal deeper truths beneath. |
Losing the game, losing a love, losing your mind – no matter how you look at it, it hurts. When we try our best and we still lose, then we feel like pulling our hair out. We all live with loss, but when we sacrifice health, happiness, and morality, when we sacrifice everything in order to win, we truly lose. Of course, if it’s sacrifice for a noble cause, with our hearts in the right place, then our minds stay clearer and our loss may be easier to bear – however, it still hurts. |
The Pain of Loss: A Question of Sacrifice |
 Peer Gynt Henrik Ibsen 1992 | This drawing was inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s amazing theatrical production of Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in the early 90’s. Peer Gynt spends his life traveling around the world, a puer eternis forever searching. Coming full circle, he realizes that he’s actually been running away from himself the whole time. He finally returns home and in a dream-like sequence, three figures enter draped in white gauze, carrying three white caskets which hold, “the dreams you should have dreamed, the songs you should have sung, and the tears you should have wept.” I was very moved by this eerie vision – after all, who is completely without regrets? This is my visual interpretation of those poignant words. |
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